Tag: Exploring

Horror has been good to these directors. (Or is it the other way around?)

Like comedy, horror is a tricky genre to get right, because right away you’re faced with the inescapable expectation that your work must, in fact, be the very thing that makes the genre what it is. For comedy, it has to be funny, but for horror, it has to be scary. Though there are plenty of horror flicks out there that are reductive, predictable, and barely able to make you flinch, there have been some truly great films that have come out in the last several years that remind horror film fans of why we love this bloody genre so much—and an exciting number of them have been women.

In this video from Fandor, we get to explore the work of three female directors who chose to make a name for themselves in the horror genre with their transgressive, challenging, and yes, really, really scary films. Check it out below:

The visual effects in rapper/songwriter Kendrick Lamar’s new music video is hot enough to ignite your brain.

Just in case you haven’t noticed, the internet has been buzzing for the last 24 hours about Kendrick Lamar’s new music video for his single “Humble,” and rightfully so. The visual effects in this video directed by Dave Meyers are absolutely, but also subtly amazing. VFX like heads on fire, a 360-degree glitchy Last Supper, and what I can only describe as a cross-frame switcheroo effect really have us wondering how it was all done. Here to offer a few possibilities is editor Justin Odisho, but before we get to that, let’s take a look at Kendrick Lamar’s music video.

And here is Odisho’s take on how a few different visual effects could have been pulled off.

The thing I love about this breakdown, as well as ones like it, is that even if the techniques mentioned aren’t exactly how the original was done, it doesn’t matter. Odisho basically tells you several ways to pull off some awesome visual effects, ones that usually have a lot of people scratching their heads about how they were approached.

Though his most famous work was done in black and white, Akira Kurosawa used color like no other filmmaker before or after him.

1970 was a big year for director Akira Kurosawa, because it was the year his first color film, Dodes’ka-den, was released. Up until this point, the Japanese filmmaker mesmerized audiences with his brilliant black and white films, including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo, however, utilizing his expertise as a painter, the world was introduced to a kaleidoscopic imagination that had been hidden in achromaticity for 27 years. Philip Brubaker explores Kurosawa’s transition to color in this Fandor video essay.

When Kurosawa made the transition from black and white to color, he really transformed. In a Wizard of Oz-on-LSD kind of way, the director injected vibrant primary colors into his work, sometimes channeling his inner expressionist and splashing them everywhere or sometimes being very measured and carefully painting them. Either way he did it, he did it with a purpose.

I love movie theaters. Every time I walk into one, I get the feeling I’m at home again. They are my places of worship, they are my cathedrals, they are my palaces. Every last city in the world has their own unique set of movie theaters, usually with an extensive and interesting history behind each one. Over the last 10 days of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival (aka “Berlinale“) I was able to explore a number of different venues for screenings all over the city. I really love Berlin, and it’s now my home where I live, but I’m still exploring and still going to places I’ve never been before. Looking back over this year’s festival, I wanted to highlight a few of the gorgeous movie palaces I visited and share some photos of these places, since they’re all so lovely. ›››

Lucasfilm exploring options for Leia character after Carrie Fisher’s passing

When Carrie Fisher passed away late last year, it left many Star Wars fans wondering about the involvement of her character General Leia Organa in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII and Star Wars: Episode IX. It was previously reported that the actress had completed her filming for the upcoming eighth episode, but a new report from The Hollywood Reporter brings even more questions to the table.

THR notes that two key scenes involving Fisher’s character were planned for the remaining two episodes, including a reunion with her brother, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and a confrontation with her son, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. The outlet is unsure about which of the two films these scenes will take place in, but they do report Leia was supposed to have an even bigger role in Episode IX than in Episode VIII, which itself was said to be bigger than her role in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The site also reveals that Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow is set to meet with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy to discuss their options for the film next week. It remains to be seen what those options are — such as rewriting the film around the character, recreating Fisher’s presence with a double and CGI enhancements, or potentially even recasting — but since production on Episode IX probably won’t begin until early next year, Lucasfilm still has plenty of time to decide on what to do.

In related Star Wars news, Adam Driver spoke to Larry King (via CBR) about his character in the upcoming Episode VIII and what aspect of the character he was most interested in exploring in the upcoming film:

“I think maybe this is such a general answer but you know, humanity. Even though it’s very much a blockbuster movie, and I’m aware of that, there was no taking that for granted and that we were forced to be general [in ‘The Force Awakens’]. There was a lot of plot points that we knew were operating in the first one, that we get to explain more in the second one, that kind of make both of them make sense. But they do kind of feel socially active to me. And George Lucas originally — a lot of ‘Star Wars’ was in response to Vietnam and a lot of what I remember talking about with [‘Force Awakens’ director] J.J. [Abrams] and [‘Episode VIII’ director] Rian [Johnson] was this idea of terrorism, and two sides being morally justified to behave however they wanted to to get whatever they thought was absolutely correct.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens at SXSW

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The First Order Has Landed At SXSW on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens at SXSW

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The First Order Has Landed At SXSW on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens at SXSW

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The First Order Has Landed At SXSW on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens at SXSW

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The First Order Has Landed At SXSW on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens at SXSW

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The First Order Has Landed At SXSW on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

How does Arrival DP Bradford Young create the mesmerizing atmospheres in his work?

Bradford Young is one of the most talented DPs working today, having collaborated with iconic directors like Ava DuVernay (Selma) and most recently Denis Villeneuve (Arrival). Through his keen sense of lighting and use of color, he manages to create his signature hot/cold atmospheres, which is one aspect of Young’s approach to cinematography wolfcrow’s Sareesh Sudhakaran explores in his latest cinematography breaksdown. Check it out below:

Despite his extensive work on feature films, Young has also showcased his skill in documentaries, commercials, and music videos for MGMT, Nora Jones, and Beck. Perhaps it is from this freedom to explore, experiment, and take chances that he is able to embrace his unique visual style as, what Sudhakaran calls, a truly “modern cinematographer.”